Midnight Heart
by Kirsten Erin
Summary: A collection of one-shots making up the sequel to BFDaBFB, each explores the hearts of both Batclan and Flash family, testing the strength of their bonds and the power of their love.
1. January 17

_**Disclaimer: I only own Faith/Aaralyn.**_

**Chapter 1- January 17**

Wally felt his gut turn inside out as he nervously fidgetted with the small ring box that sat carefully in his right pocket. It was snowing in Star City and he was waiting for Aaralyn Queen to come down the stairs for their date.

He smiled as she made her appearance, clad in a knee-length black dress, a heavy winter coat with fake fur around the hood, and a pair of black knee-high boots. Her light brown hair fell in waves around her face and he couldn't get over how beautiful she looked.

It took fifteen agonizing moments to reach the restaurant he had chosen, but the next hour of sitting across from the beautiful woman he'd fallen so deeply in love with seemed to be a thousand years to his agitated mind. He hated the way his mind worked when it came to times like these. He hated that he had plenty of time to think of all the things that could go wrong about this date, every possiblity in the time it took her to chew her food, swallow it, and ask him a question.

"Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"I just asked if you were done." she gave him an exasperated look and he felt his heart melt a little.

"Oh, yeah." he sat up and looked around until he spotted their waiter. "Check, please."

"What now?"

"I thought we could take a walk- head down to the park and all."

She raised an eyebrow. "Wally, you hate the cold."  
"But you love it and I'll survive." he said, laying the cash for their meal on top of the check the waiter had just left, leaving a nice tip. "Let's move."  
They headed out the door and down the street, hand in hand with one another as they admired the quiet grace of Star City. Aaralyn let out a sigh as she kicked her boots through the snow and leaned her head on Wally's shoulder.

"Look." he pointed out a moment later, with a chuckle.

On the newspaper stand were a couple of tabloids with their faces, both costumed and otherwise, on them.

One broadcasts the fact that Roy and Lian are set to play them minor roles of father and daughter in an upcoming film, set to hit the big screen on Friday; while the next questions whether Bruce or Ollie was richer. A third magazine showed a blown up picture of Faith and Speedy having coffee with a diagonal font across the bottom reading "Is it love?" while an out-of-context shot of the rarely angry Flash splits the other half of the cover. In even smaller print, a caption reads, "Was it just a squabble or are Flash and Faith over? And where does Speedy fit into all this? Details inside."

Aaralyn couldn't help but laugh at this one and picked it up, thumbing through the pages. Pictures of the three superheroes in action on separate occasions littered the pages that spoke of things they didn't truly know about. After a moment, she set it back and shook her head.

"They really have no idea, do they?"  
He kissed her cheek, "Not at all."

The pair headed out to the Star City Central Park and to the bridge that overlooked a small waterfall, now frozen in this weather. He wrapped an arm around her as she shivered and pulled her close.

"You mean the world to me, you know that?"

"You mean the same to me." she laughed.

"No, really." he responded, not letting go of his hold on her. "I don't know what I would do without you. I knew that God had given me one heck of a gift when we met, but every day shows me that I underestimated how much He's blessed me by bringing you into my life. I love you so much it drives me mad sometimes. Every day, we put our lives on the lines for this world and every day I'm terrified that you're going to be ripped from me. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could even survive that."

He stopped, growing quiet as he continued to gather his thoughts.

"Wally..." she looked up at him as he silently pulled away.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I asked Ollie for your hand in marriage last week and it's been burning me up from the inside out since." he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring he'd chosen just for her beautiful hand. "Aaralyn Melanie Queen. Faith Rene' Holzer. Will you do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me as my bride?"

With tears welling up in her eyes, she nodded. "Yes, yes, of course!" she whispered joyously as he beamed up at her, placing the ring on her finger.

A camera flash or two went off, but neither of the two took note, both being far too wrapped up in each other as they shared a tender kiss.

"I love you so much, Wally West."  
"I love you too, future Mrs. West." he laughed.

A few days later, the tabloids were out. Splashed across the cover of half of them was a photo of the two in a tender embrace, her ring finger on her left hand proudly displaying her new ring. The caption read, "Star City's princess getting hitched! How soon will the wedding bells start ringing?"

_**Author's Note: Here's our first chapter. The long awaited proposal. Hope y'all loved it! :D**_


	2. February 2

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, Captain Cold, Flash, Kid Flash, Orion, or Captain Boomerang. I also don't own the original events of the episode **_**Flash and Substance**_** from which this chapter is adapted. Everything else, I own... including the world!**_

**Chapter 2- February 2**

_(Flash and Substance Part 1)_

Faith rubbed the back of her neck as she stretched it, leaning her head to the left and right. She'd taken quite a hit from the Pied Piper that would more than likely leave a good-sized bruise on her left jawline. The threat was taken care of, though, thankfully not having to call for Bart or Wally. The former didn't need to get into any more trouble because he was skipping school to save the city and Wally was working today and he couldn't afford it either.

Speak of the devil, her fiance' had just appeared on the teleport pads and ran over to her the moment he laid eyes on her.

"Hey Faith," he paused to plant a quick kiss on her lips and then hurried on, talking at a ridiculously quick rate. "How was your day? Mine was great. Wanna come with me to convince Bats to come to the Museum opening? You're coming right? Might wanna polish your boots. Wait, what happened to your jaw? Are you okay? Who did that?"

Each of the questions came at rapid fire, but she was used to this. She paused for a moment, ordering the questions in her head and responding to each in turn.

"Good. I'm glad. Sure. Of course. Will do. The Pied Piper got in a lucky shot this morning and I'm fine."

He smirked. "You're getting better."

"I know, right?" she laughed.

"You need some ice?"

"I'm good, Flash. Didn't you need to go see Batman?"

A few moments later and the elevator doors opened up to the control room where Batman was busily typing away at the computer and Orion stood nearby, leaning against the wall with one foot propped against it.

"Hey guys." Flash started as he got out first. He eyed the screens above Batman's head. "So, looks like Superman and GL are in space, Wonder Woman's doing disasters-"

"Why are you here?" Batman cut in, getting straight to the point as usual.

"Oh. Right."

Batman was the only person on the face of this planet, that I knew of, who could get Wally to stall. Normally, the redhead immediately spat out whatever was on his mind, told stories in hyperspeed, and moved on to the next topic the moment you grasped the first. With Batman, he'd dance around the topic at hand and take it slower, especially with things where he sought the older hero's approval. Such as now.

"Because it's Flash Appreciation Day. Yeah, it'll be great. I understand if everybody's too busy to come. No biggie. My aunt and uncle are gonna be there. Let's see, my cousin and your kids are coming. It'd be great if one of the original seven made it." he paced back and forth, looking back at his fiance' once. She offered an ecouraging smile and he continued. "I mean, okay, it's the Flash museum, but to me the whole League deserves the honor- all of us. Like I said, no biggie."

Faith was nearly glaring holes in the back of Batman's head and had no doubt that he sensed it. The man was still typing as if ignoring every word that slipped from the speedster's mouth. She knew how important it was to Wally that he in particular show up. He was the closest thing to a father figure the man posessed. Wally heaved a dramatic sigh and practically folded in half, touching his toes in exasperation.

"What time?"

"Six o'clock!" Flash sprung up to standing. "No! You're really coming? Awesome!"

Faith saw Orion shake his head condescendingly from where he stood to her left and rolled her eyes. The guy was as stuck-up as they come and got on her last nerve.

"You're a stand-up guy, Bats. Don't ever let them call you a crazed loner!" The comment made a snort escape from the brunette and she clapped her hand over her mouth as Batman glared at Flash.

"Well," Flash backed away from the intimidating Batglare. "I've got a lot to do. I'm getting the key to the city today, I need to practice my museum speech, and hey I'd better polish my boots." Flash headed to the elevator. "You coming?"

"I'll meet you in a minute." Faith responded, heading around the side to where she could check the monitor duty schedule. Apparently, Orion didn't notice that she wasn't on the elevator with Flash, because the moment the doors dinged close, he was talking.

"I can't believe you let that buffoon manipulate you. You'd never see me at one of those museum openings." he told the man haughtily. Faith's shoulders tensed in anger, but she only turned to watch them.

Batman didn't respond, only sent a severely irritated glare at Orion, punctuated with a raised eyebrow. Orion swallowed hard, then his shoulders sagged. "It's not black tie is it?"

Heading back to the elevator doors, she answered for him. "Just don't forget to polish your boots." she retorted sarcastically. She smirked as she saw his eyes go wide for a second, then his face return to it's normal indifferent look.

Batman turned and made eye contact with her and she could've sworn that she saw the tiniest hint of a smile dance across his lips.

* * *

Faith reached Central City just before the ceremony in which they presented Flash with the key to the city. He was positively beaming and she couldn't help but be extremely proud of him. No matter what he would tell you to the contrary, he most definitely deserved the award.

"For his charitable work for the city's underpriviledged, his bravery during the Thanagarian crisis, and most of all for his great help reducing crime in Central City- I proclaim this Flash Appreciation Day!" The crowd cheered and Faith clapped along with them from where she stood to his far right on the top of the stairs that made a stage for the gathering, where the honored guests were designated to stand. Kid Flash was supposed to be standing there beside her, but he was stuck in school. There were a few schools that let out for the occasion, but not his. Needless to say, he wasn't happy about it.

Flash accepted the key from the mayor and shot his fiance' a winning smile before stepping up the the podium. "Thanks Mayor, thanks folks. Wow, you've all been so great to me over the years, it really gets to me, ya know. I couldn't have done it these past few years without my 'team', Kid Flash and my beautiful fiance' Faith. Hope we can always make you proud. Um... that's all."

Faith couldn't help but laugh at his short speech, yet the crowd went wild. Flash held his arm out to her and she accepted it, the two of them heading into the crowd to shake hands and sign autographs, Flash doing most if it. They were halfway through the crowd when a familiar whirring noise sliced the air.

"Aww. Don't tell me." Flash groaned.

"Are you kidding me? We couldn't just have one fight today..." Faith moaned at the same time.

"Boomerangs!" a voice cut the air.

"Clear the area!" Flash yelled in Faith's direction. Most listened to him, regardless of the command's direction, and scattered in random directions. Her job was to clear those who moved too slow or went into panic at the sign of danger. Using both hands to create controlled forcefields, she gathered the stragglers on one side and moved them to a safe distance and did the same with the others, trusting Flash to make sure she was safe as this went on.

Meanwhile, Flash had thrown the circular disk that hung on the podium to take out the first of the explosive boomerangs before running about, catching each boomerang as it drew near and sending them back where they came from.

He looked over at Faith for a second before she called out. "Boomerangs, Flash!"

"Duh!" he responded, more to himself than her as he looked up, finding them wizzing back at the two of them. Faith caught the first few in a forcefield, which they quickly hit and exploded, while Flash spun on his feet, drawing the rest into his makeshift tornado, which thusly sent them into the air above him, hitting one another, and exploding.

Faith shot him an irritated look, having been drawn toward him and nearly sucked into the tornado he'd created, even as he placed his hands on his hips, shooting a smug smile up at his handiwork.

"Next time a warning would be-" she started, but stopped midsentence as the sound of jet engines flooded their hearing. Both turned around just in time to be hit by a jet-propelled giant boomerang. The massive instrument's center point hit Flash square in the gut, immediately sprouting a metal encasement that wrapped around his waist and one of this hands, the contraption missing the other. Faith, however, was slammed into by the left wing, which hit her middle and threw her backward and upward fifty feet and into the branches of a tree.

She heard him yell her name, but could only let loose a scream of pain as the branches made contact with her body. She cringed as she felt the heat of the engines and the entire thing narrowly missed her as it razed the top of her tree, while practically levelling quite a few to her left.

She slipped in and out of consciousness for a few moments before making an attempt to move. She reached up to the back of her head, touching it before pulling away with blood on her fingers.

"Faith?" a familiar voice called up the tree and seconds later she found herself being gently laid in the grass by a teenage boy.

"You okay, Faith? What happened here? Where's Flash?" Bart's voice pierced her foggy mind. She blinked rapidly and let it clear a bit before she answered.

"Boomer attacked during the ceremony and finished with a giant boomerang that flung me into the tree and took Flash in that direction. Go help him." she said, pushing herself up with one arm.

Kid Flash took off with a gust of wind and Faith surveyed the destruction around herself. That huge boomerang had really trashed the area, though it thankfully avoided most buildings. The real wreckage was mostly caused by the trees and what shrapnel had fallen to the ground from explosions and such.

Another gust of wind announced Kid Flash's return. "He's fine. Batman and some similarly grumpy dude in red and a silver helmet are with him. You weren't joking about that boomerang. It's ginormous."

"No joke." she responded as the teenager helped her off her seat and up to standing. She felt dizzy and nauseous, but bit back the bile as he helped support her weight. Looking down, she saw that she had a few cuts and bruises, enough to warrant a change of costumes, but nothing more. The only thing that needed looking at was her bruises.

Flash showed up in a streak of red, concern etched on his features.

"You okay, Faith? You sure took quite a hit."

"I should be asking you the same. You were on a giant boomerang." she raised an eyebrow. "You look pretty beat up yourself."  
"I'm fine and you never answered the question." he responded, looking me over for injuries.

"I'm okay, the only thing that has me concerned is that the back of my head is bleeding from impact."

"You have a concussion." the unmistakeably gravelly voice of Batman cut through and the trio turned to see the two men almost upon them. "You're eyes are more unfocused than usual. Did you feel any nausea or dizziness afterward?"

"Yeah."

He came around behind her and began parting the hair at the back of her head for him to see. A few seconds later, he stopped. "It's a superficial cut, just a big one. You won't need stitches."

"Thanks." she turned back to her fiance'. "I'm going to head back up the Watchtower so I can shower and get a change of clothes. You should proably do the same."

They all agreed and Kid Flash volunteered to escort her back until she was feeling better while the other three went to Flash's apartment. The first two would meet them in a few hours.

* * *

The three male vigilantes were beamed to Flash's apartment a few moments later.

"This is where you live?" Orion asked as they materialized. His place wasn't that impressive, but it was clearly good enough for him.

"Isn't it great? Low maintenence fees and there's a laundry room on the same floor." he said, crossing his arms happily after setting down the key to the city he'd been given that morning.

"From the way you talk, I would've thought your Central City had built you a palace."

"Psh. He wishes." a voice came from the left of Orion, who instinctively made a swing at the source. The two teenagers ducked before he could make contact.

"Dude! Calm yourself." the redheaded girl commanded condescendingly.

Orion looked at them questioningly. "You have kids?"  
"No." Flash laughed. "How old do I look? Those are the Bat's kids."

Batman sent a Batglare at the red speedster who quickly busied himself pulling out the top drawer of his dresser which held his Flash rings.

Orion looked at the two teens with a curious expression, though most of it couldn't be seen from under his helmet. Both were clad in normal clothes, the boy in jeans and blue shirt, the girl in a green dress; yet both wore their domino masks while they munched on Oreos.

"I'm Robin." the boy extended his hand to the hero. "And this is Dark Falcon."

"Orion." he responded, before turning back to where Flash was spinning out of his old costume and into his new.

"Cool, huh? The hard part is getting the costume back into it." he was saying.

"Take these attempts on your life more seriously." Batman responded coldly, closing the drawer.

"Attempts on his life?" Dark Falcon questioned.

"What? Mirror Master and Captain Koala? No way!"

"Not just them. From the looks of Kid Flash's costume, he's been in a fight with Captain Cold this morning, also released from Iron Heights. Not to mention that we've been told the Trickster's with them. That's four supervillians with an axe to grind." Batman countered.

"Speaking of Kid Flash," Robin spoke up. "Where is he? We were supposed to meet him here. Thus our presence in Flash's apartment."

"He's onboard the Watchtower with Faith. She got a few minor injuries in the Captain Boomerang fight earlier. He ought to be back soon." Flash responded.

"If there was some way to hunt them down, we could eliminate these dogs before they could strike again." Orion suggested.

"Look, I'll just round them all up tomorrow. They all hang out at this little hole in the wall on Fourth street."

"I wish our supervillians were that easy to round up." Dark Falcon commented as she slipped another Oreo between her teeth.


End file.
